Jesse Eisenberg to play legendary mime Marcel Marceau in “Resistance”May 19, 2017 - 11:27 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Jesse Eisenberg has been tapped to play legendary mime Marcel Marceau in “Resistance”, Variety said. This won’t be the usual artist biopic, however. The film will focus on Marceau’s involvement in the French resistance when his country was occupied by the Nazis during World War II. The film’s backers compare it to “Life Is Beautiful,” the 1999 Oscar-winner about a man using comedy to help his son cope with the Holocaust. In a similar vein, Marceau learned to mime to survive and to save the lives of Jewish orphans whose parents had just been killed by the Nazis. Before taking on his stage persona of Bip the Clown, he was born Marcel Mangel to a kosher butcher from Strasbourg. His father was eventually killed in Auschwitz. Marceau gave his first major performance to 3,000 American troops of General Patton’s army after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. He went on to perform for six more decades, winning an Emmy and numerous other honors. He was made Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (1998) and was awarded the National Order of Merit (1998) in France for his work in the resistance. Jonathan Jakubowicz (“Hands of Stone”) will direct and write the picture. Eisenberg was nominated for an Oscar for his work in “The Social Network.” His other credits include “The Squid and the Whale,” “Now You See Me,” “Cafe Society” and “Justice League.” Many of these roles are on the dramatic end of the spectrum, but role of Marceau has some resonance for Eisenberg — his mother worked as a professional clown. “Resistance” will be produced by Claudine Jakubowicz and Carlos Garcia de Paredes, who produced and put together the financing for “Hands of Stone.” The film is being set as a European co-production. Baptiste Marceau, the mime’s oldest son, has been closely involved in the research of the film and will serve as executive producer. “Resistance” will shoot in early 2018. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. |